WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — In the sprawling ecosystem of Hillary and Bill Clinton donors and fundraisers, there are thousands who fashion themselves top contributors, hundreds who consider themselves friends of the former president and secretary of state, dozens who see their role as deep-pocketed strategic advisers, and just a handful capable of dialing into the candidate’s inner circle with no obstacles.

But there is only one Haim Saban.

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Known for two decades to be one of the Clintons’ top-tier supporters and a close personal friend, the billionaire chairman and part owner of Univision who brought Power Rangers to the United States has emerged in 2016 as all of the above, according to the clear picture painted by the hacked emails of campaign Chairman John Podesta published by WikiLeaks in recent weeks.

It’s not just that Saban — unanimously described by friends as brash and loving, particularly enamored of the Democratic nominee to the point of being famously upset when she lost to Barack Obama in 2008 — can get an immediate call back from Podesta or campaign manager Robby Mook with a simple, “Can one of you please call me at your earliest convenience? Tx.” And it’s not just that the private equity magnate, worth $3.6 billion according to Bloomberg, is the only West Coast donor to host Clinton for high-dollar fundraisers multiple times this cycle, contributing with his wife roughly $11.5 million to pro-Clinton 2016 efforts on top of his foundation contributions of between $10 million and $25 million, his $5 million for Bill Clinton’s presidential library in 2002, and his $7 million for a new Democratic National Committee headquarters.

It’s his apparent level of campaign involvement, between his frequent reminders to Podesta, Mook, and campaign vice-chair Huma Abedin about the electoral power of Latinos, the occasional questions about Clinton’s public pronouncements on Israel — he has famously said “I’m a one-issue guy and my one issue is Israel” — and even his scattered bits of advice about nitty-gritty political warfare.

He is, after all, close enough to the top rungs of the campaign — and in frequent enough contact — that he felt comfortable asking Podesta in June 2015, “Is Huma still on the team?,” referring to Clinton’s closest personal aide, who’s been at her side for years.

After getting a “You bet,” from the chair, Saban revealed why he asked: She had unexpectedly stopped responding to his emails. “Strange ... maybe my emails are going to spam ... she’s not responding.” Podesta, without hesitation, looped Abedin into the response — and the famously private aide responded with striking familiarity: “Haim! See my other chain. You emailed old address."

The Egyptian-born Saban, a vociferous advocate for Israel and founder of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution who has been accused by conservatives of inappropriately using his perch at Univision to influence coverage — a charge he and associates vigorously deny — is hardly an uncontroversial figure, dating back long before the stretch when Clinton would fly on his plane during her years in the Senate.

But his position near the top of Clinton’s world is unquestionable: None of his fellow top fundraisers or donors agreed to speak about him with POLITICO on the record, but they unanimously characterized the Los Angeles resident as adjacent to some of her tightest orbits of influence.

That description is corroborated by the emails, illuminated in particular by the ease with which he interacts with Podesta, Mook and Abedin — three top aides who are largely inaccessible even to most of Clinton’s donors — including when he’s setting up informal meals with them, or forwarding them a cartoon, appending a slyly smiling emoji.

The emails — the authenticity of which the campaign refuses to confirm due to their provenance in a Russian hack — demonstrate that he is afforded responses even as he offers advice in the midst of political crises.

In August 2015, as the controversy over Clinton’s email arrangement swirled yet again, for example, Saban emailed: “A thought: If ANY person’s 1000 emails were to be exposed to the world there will always be an opportunity for someone to take things out of context and build a disparaging case, and eventually produce a commercial around it. It would make sense at some point to make this argument. ... in her own words ... My 2 cents."

Mook, Clinton’s top political aide, responded in the high-stakes moment: “This is definitely coming our way. Looking at the option you discussed and a few others."

That was hardly the extent of his interest in the nuts and bolts of Clinton’s political battles in 2015 and early 2016: After he congratulated the team on winning the Nevada caucus in February — “Amigos I’m in Israel and just woke up to the news ... Haleluya! Onward and forward,” he wrote the campaign at yet another one of its most fraught moments — Mook responded again: “Thank YOU for making it possible!!"

And, enough of a political junkie that he is known to chatter about politics with his friend Rupert Murdoch, Saban demonstrated he was wired in enough to spur Podesta to set up meetings with potential campaign consultants right before Clinton launched her bid. Describing March meetings he’d had with technology companies in Israel, he suggested to Podesta that the campaign’s digital chief meet with them: “I have no horse in this race other than to support our cause.” Podesta then, accordingly, forwarded the suggestion to top digital aide Teddy Goff.

Nearly a year later, in the midst of Clinton’s brutal primary battle with Bernie Sanders, he flashed anger at the senator, linking to a Wall Street Journal report on Sanders’ ties to super PACs and suggesting a new offensive with the February email he titled, “Bernie’s lies."

In a note that garnered a response from campaign communications chief Jennifer Palmieri, Saban wrote, “Call me stupid but you don’t shred him on the below, in simple easy to understand one liner ... experience is of major importance to govern, and has some value in getting elected ... However ... crisp ... easy to grasp ... emotion triggering one liner are much more compelling for the majority of voters: 'You are against Super packs ... right? I don’t like them either ...ok pls come clean with the American people, and explain etc ...’ Simple arrow the heart and the brain ... and up his butt.”

But Saban’s top campaign concern appears to be the candidate’s performance among Latinos — an area into which he has particular insight due to his role at Univision. Both Saban and his allies are sensitive about the perception that he could use that role — atop the network with unparalleled influence among American Latinos — to political ends, yet it does pop up repeatedly in his correspondences with senior campaign aides.

Shortly after Clinton launched her campaign, for example, he set up a breakfast between Podesta and Isaac Lee, Univision’s top digital official who was also in charge of its millennial outlet Fusion. And a September 2015 exchange between aides reveals that he had also spoken directly with Clinton about appearing more on Univision.

In July 2015 he forwarded the results of a Univision poll to Podesta, Abedin, Mook, and senior policy aide Jake Sullivan: “We conducted this research which shows the pockets of strength and those of weakness for us. Very telling. Pls review as you see fit.” Just five months later, he contacted a similar group to share a Vox writeup of a separate Univision poll: “Can’t take Hispanics for granted ... need to pay attention here, for w/o Hispanics no Presidency."

Still, when Saban offered advice on Latino voters, campaign aides listened closely. Early in Trump’s campaign, Saban emailed Podesta and Mook requesting that they call him as soon as they could.

Podesta did, then informed Palmieri and deputy communications director Kristina Schake, “Haim thinks we are under reacting to Trump/Hispanics. Thinks we can get something by standing up for Latinos or attacking R’s for not condemning.” In a long ensuing email chain, a progressively larger group of aides is seen getting to work to change that.

“Haim is right — we should be jamming this all the time,” wrote Palmieri, looping in political director Amanda Renteria and communications staffer Xochitl Hinojosa. “A and X — can we think about what else we should do?"

And even his frustration about being seen to use inappropriate influence at Univision demonstrates his proximity to Clinton.

After a conservative blog wrote about a perceived Clinton bias there in August 2015, he went out of his way to ensure any perception of his influence was not shared within the campaign: “I have nothing to do with it.i NEVER tell our news dep. What to cover. ... unlike some of my peers,” he wrote.